✔ 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇

Chapter 10

Gumi strained to lift the chair onto the table.

This was already the twentieth chair and the girl was visibly exhausted. She had been on her feet all day and had taken on an extra long shift today so that she could catch up on a few missed hours. So that the cleaning staff no longer had to worry about it, the two of them pushed the furniture into place. Jay helped her, of course, and while he sometimes sent his colleague questions from one corner of the bistro to the other, Gumi had her head full of other thoughts.

On the one hand, she kept her failed entrance exam a secret from her stepmother.

And then there was Kang Taehyun.

It had already been a whole week since she had met him and by now she thought that he wouldn't turn up at all.

The musician certainly had better things to do.

Sighing, the redhead leaned against a table and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She leaned her head back and then let it roll around to get rid of the pain. The shift had been exhausting and had taken its toll, as everything felt stiff.

But as if the day wasn't going to end, the doorbell rang, announcing a new guest, even though the store had long since closed. Gumi would have liked to say they were already closed.

"Excuse me..." a male voice rang out.

And it was even familiar to Gumi.

Kang Taehyun peeked through the crack in the door, still wearing the black cap on his head and his white mask pulled down to his chin so that his face was halfway visible.

Just as Taehyun set foot in the store and caught sight of Gumi, a horrified snort from Jay sounded from the other side of the bistro.

"We're closed!" he shouted at the customer.

Gumi froze when she recognized the face of the boy she had been waiting for all week. Every day she had stayed a little longer so as not to miss the chance that he might come by. "It's okay, Jay," she said hurriedly, quickly ruffling her red hair. She suddenly felt extremely nervous and it wasn't necessarily because Taehyun was a famous singer.

But because she had constantly thought about their encounter over the past week. She had wondered a hundred times whether she might have reacted strangely.

"I'll take care of the rest, you can go," Gumi said quietly to Jay and walked towards the counter to get the cleaning rag.

Jay frowned, but only because he thought it was cheeky of the customer to turn up at this hour. He didn't know that the two of them had met before, but Gumi's friendly manner made Jay's heart flutter. She was such a good soul that she still wanted to serve this customer despite the end of her shift.

So Jay shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then," he replied and went to the back to get changed.